Ugly Holds Its Own

Look at models long enough and you realize they're all so pretty. Why this should be though is a mystery. Models for cosmetics, sure. They're selling a face. But this probably being Fashion Week, I'm left to wonder why everyday high-fashion clothes-horse models have such pleasant features. Sometimes they veer a little too far towards "angry alien", but by and large their complexions are clear and their features are symmetrical. The lank bony frame is probably a must, but faces are a canvas of infinite variety.

There's room here for the designer who's prepared to admit that during Fashion Week, there's no bad publicity. Most fashion designers, they tell me, purposely make hideous garments to run interference for the more serious offerings. Oddly, the models themselves are never called on for heavy duty in this playbook of the ugly/not ugly. Why not hire models with severe acne, models with one eye, models with oozing cold sores, balding models and hirsute models? Models with stitches and models with scars. I'm prepared to hear people say that a fashion show isn't a freak show, but I'm not prepared to believe it.